Donald Trump lied about saving more than 1,100 Indianapolis manufacturing jobs from moving to Mexico, according to the boss of the company’s union.

Chuck Jones, leader of the United Steelworkers 1999 union who watched the president-elect give a speech at the air conditioning plant on 1 December, told the Washington Post that Mr Trump had inflated his victory.

He claimed to have “saved” over 1100, but it was really 800; the company confirmed that number.

In gratitude for keeping less than half the jobs in the US, Mr Trump promised the plant huge tax breaks and benefits, including nearly $7 million tax credits from Indiana, to be paid in installments of $700,000 every year for a decade. In return, Carrier said it would invest $16 million in its Indiana plant. It will still send 700 factory jobs south of the border to Monterrey, Mexico.

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The 7 million comes up to $8,750/job, which is likely between a quarter and a half of a given job’s salary (though, admittedly, a smaller fraction of total operating costs associated with any one of those jobs). It isn’t quite “Why not just pay the people directly instead” levels, but it’s a (not-very-thin) edge of a (probably substantial) wedge.

Chuck Jones, leader of the United Steelworkers 1999 union who watched the president-elect give a speech at the air conditioning plant on 1 December, told the Washington Post that Mr Trump had inflated his victory.

What a coincidence! Mr Trump has just been mentioning him on Twitter. (He’s such a petty vindictive fucker.)

1) Jones is doing a lousy job of representing workers? So: how many of Trump’s businesses are unionized, and how easy did he make it for them?

2) Companies flee country because unions are weak? Huh?

Have I expounded on my concept of the Bullshit Volcano* in these parts yet? Basically, it’s someone who just spouts whatever comes into their head that seems like it will support their point, somehow, even if there’s no perceptible logic to it, or it contradicts the previous thing they said. I called it on Trump months ago.

*I originally coined it in honour of some local clown my wife kept having to deal with a few years ago.